WILLIAMSBURG — Nothing about last Saturday's performance at the Lane Stadium gladiator pit convinced the folks at William and Mary World Football Headquarters that they do not have a championship-caliber football team.

The Tribe made mistakes, suffered several unfortunate injuries and predictably got bounced around a bit in a 34-9 loss to Virginia Tech. William and Mary also competed well in the most difficult environment it will experience.

"I definitely think we learned a lot about our team," W&M running back Mikal Abdul-Saboor said. "For one, we know we can compete against anybody. I think we just had some mistakes here and there and some missed opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. Hopefully, we improve on those throughout the rest of the season."

The Tribe's next opportunity comes 6 p.m. Saturday at Hampton University in the Pirates' home opener at Armstrong Stadium. Both teams opened with losses to Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, but face FCS teams the remainder of the season.

"When we watched the film (Monday)," defensive end Stephen Sinnott said, "the underlying theme was, when we do things the right way, we can be a great defense."

Sinnott said that coaches "pulled out 5-10 plays we watched as a unit. If everybody had done what they were supposed to do on those plays, the outcome could have been different. That being said, we realize when we do what we're supposed to do, we can be a great team, and that's what we're going to focus on going into Hampton this week."

The Tribe will be without starting tight end Bo Revell and defensive tackle Chris Donald. All-conference wide receiver Tre McBride also suffered an ankle injury, and head coach Jimmye Laycock said Tuesday that his status for Saturday is uncertain.

"I don't know if it changes a whole lot," Laycock said of McBride's possible absence in the passing game. "It might change the number of deep shots we take. But then again, I think we've got some pretty good receivers. … Scheme-wise, we don't have a lot of plays targeting one receiver. The quarterback goes with his reads."

Speaking of which, Laycock said that he was pleased with redshirt sophomore Steve Cluley's poise in his first start, against Tech's nasty-quick defense. Cluley's numbers were fairly ordinary — 8-for-21 for 108 yards — but he was sacked four times and often under pressure.

"I think he did fine," Abdul-Saboor said. "I think we have to protect him better, as far as pass protection. Let him feel more comfortable back there. It was a hostile environment. I think he's going to continue to get better."

Abdul-Saboor rushed for 85 yards against the Hokies, and the Tribe's ground game figures to be a more prominent part of the game plan this week — McBride or no McBride.

Last season, W&M rushed for 277 yards in a 31-7 win in Williamsburg, as Abdul-Saboor and Kendell Anderson combined for 208 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

"They definitely improved from last year, from what I've seen so far," said Abdul-Saboor, who watched video of Hampton's loss to Old Dominion. "I think really it's going to be us executing what we do. Personally, I'm not too worried about their schemes, but we're definitely going to have to execute. They're a much better team than last year.

"They're going to come out excited for this game and nothing would be sweeter for them than to upset us. We can't look back on last year and automatically assume a similar outcome."

Hampton quarterback J.J. Williamson's performance against ODU has the Tribe's attention. He threw for a school-record 407 yards and three touchdowns. He played last season in the loss to W&M, completing 20 of 36 passes for 161 yards as the Tribe's nationally-ranked defense shut down HU's running game (24 yards).

Laycock said that this game is almost like a second opener, since the Pirates have a new coaching staff, and ODU plays so much differently than William and Mary.

"They look very sound in what they're doing," he said. "Scheme-wise, they're very sound. They run well, they play hard. Sometimes, you turn on tape and you can't get a rhyme or reason why somebody's doing something, but they definitely had a plan for what they were attempting to do.

"I tell our coaches, we can't put all our eggs in one basket. You go in prepared for anything and be ready to adjust. It's almost like an opener, because you don't know what to expect."